Like their father and uncle before them, the ball playing twins Hunahpu and Xbalanque, are summoned by the Lords of Death for a game at the Underworld. Will they manage to escape death, unlike their unfortunate kin? Read on and find out…
The twins, Hunahpu and Xbalanque packed carefully for their trip down to Xibalba, the Underworld. Cheerfully waving their goodbyes to their inconsolable grandmother (she was sure these fun loving, noisy, merry makers who were just like her sons would meet the same fate), they left for the great ball game at the Underworld.
The rat had helpfully told them what exactly happened to their uncle and father, so they knew what to expect. They managed to cross the rivers of Spikes, Blood and Pus. Before they made their entry into the throne room of Xibalba, they paused at the entrance. “Now, let’s check out which of these are the real Lords,” whispered Hunahpu to his brother and pulled out a hair from his shin.
This turned into a mosquito and went inside the throne room and bit one of the Lords seated. No reaction. Ah... fake and wooden! The twins smiled at each other. The mosquito flew to another and bit him. “Ouch…” shrieked the Lord. “What’s the matter?” asked the one seated next to him calling him by name. The twins listening at the door learned the name of that Lord of Death.
The mosquito flew around biting all those seated. The wooden replicas didn’t react but the real ones cried out and the other Lords near them called their names and asked them what had happened.
Once the mosquito had done a proper head count, the boys made their entry into the throne room.
Politely, they greeted all the real Lords by name and ignored the wooden replicas. “Isn’t it rather rude, that you ignore some amongst us?” asked a Lord with a sly smile.
“We are not in the habit of greeting wooden dummies!” said Xbalanque returning the smile. If the Lord felt miffed, he didn’t show it. “Do sit down on that bench and make yourself comfortable,” said another Lord pointing to a bench. “No way! We’re not pancakes to sit on that hot girdle,” the twins shouted aloud. The Lords of the Dark World dared not show their disappointment and soon the twins were ushered into the Dark House like their uncle and father before them. Again they were given torches and cigars which they were told had to be returned, come morning.
Having spent all their childhood as aspiring gardeners, the twins had made friends with all the animals and birds. They brought with them a macaw’s red tail feathers which they passed off as the torch’s flame and they struck fireflies at the end of the cigars to show they were still alight next day.
But the ordeal was far from over. They were sent to the Razor House where they reasoned that razors were to cut up animals and not them, the Hero Twins. Next was the Jaguar House where they fed the Jaguar bones they had brought with them.
They were then sent to the Cold House, a freezing place without even a blanket for cover. But the twins found some knots of pine under the dust which they burned and kept themselves warm.
After the cold it had to be the hot house and so they were sent to the Fire House. But the fire didn’t burn them to ashes as the Lords of Death hoped but only turned them a golden brown.
Finally they were sent to the most dreaded of all, the Bat House. And this is where they would make their first mistake.
Well, destiny is one thing, remember. The bats were a ferocious lot and the twins decided to sleep inside their blow guns to escape the bloodthirsty creatures.
Hunahpu, impatient as he was, couldn’t wait for morning. He decided to take a little peek outside to see if it was day light yet. Just at that moment, Camazotz, the Death Bat swooped from above and cut off his head. The severed head rolled right off into the ball court.
To be continued….